Bible is True Say Scottish Scientists

“Top scientists tell Scottish pupils: the bible is true” claims an article in the Herald Scotland 10 October 2010. A group of physicians, scientists and teachers have set up the Centre for Intelligent design in Glasgow, Scotland, to promote the theory that the universe is the product of design and not chance random processes.

The group is headed by Professor Norman Nevin OBE, a geneticist at Queen’s University in Belfast, Dr David Galloway, vice-president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Dr Alastair Noble, a teacher, and school inspector. Noble says it is inevitable the debate will come up in schools and he has already had invitations to speak in schools. He commented: “We are definitely not targeting schools, but that doesn’t mean to say we may not produce resources that go to schools.” He went on to say: “I think people are afraid of this debate because they sense it’s religion from the back door. They see it as an invasion of science with religion, but it most certainly is not that.”

The organisation claims to be purely scientific although Noble, Galloway and Nevin all seem to have personal Christian beliefs. Alastair Noble is education officer for CARE, a Christian charity which campaigns for more faith teaching in schools, and Dr David Galloway is a member of the Lennox Evangelical Church in Dumbarton. According to the Herald Scotland, Norman Nevin told a meeting in the city earlier this year he believed Adam was “a real historical person”. He also said: “Genesis chapter 1-11, which indeed many Darwinists and evolutionists say is myth or legend, I believe is historical, and it is cited 107 times in the New Testament, and Jesus refers himself to the early chapters of Genesis at least 25 times.”

Editorial Comment: There is no doubt the media is deliberately branding intelligent design as Biblical creation to get it rejected as a fundamentalist fringe belief. Yet in spite of this deliberate media confusion, as well as Professor Nevin’s own personal beliefs, Intelligent Design is not about Biblical creation, nor is it Biblical creationism. Intelligent Design is an attempt to explain the evidence of design without identifying the designer. This is clearly set out in the Centre for Intelligent Design’s own website. In answer to the question “Is intelligent design theory the same as creationism?” they write: “No. Intelligent design theory is simply an effort to empirically detect whether the appearance of design in nature – which is acknowledged by virtually all biologists – is genuine design (the product of an intelligent cause) or is simply the product of an undirected process such as natural selection acting on random variations.” They go on to say: “Because intelligent design logically implies a designer, it is compatible with creationism, but it is a distinctly different and separate theory. Unlike creationism, the scientific theory of intelligent design is agnostic regarding the source of design and has no commitment to defending Genesis, the Bible or any other sacred text.” See: http://www.c4id.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=167&Itemid=31

This approach may be preferred by those who want to indulge in limited academic philosophising, but it does not explain, and can never explain why the world we observe is a mixture of exquisite design tinged with ugly corruption. It also provides no hope for escaping those things that are evil. The Bible both in the Old and New Testaments tells us there is abundant evidence for design, and there is no excuse for ignoring it. However, it also tells us there is abundant evidence for the Designer and no acceptable excuse for ignoring Him. Therefore, Creation Research has and will continue to point to the abundant evidence of design, but we are also committed to telling the rest of the story. The Bible beginning at Genesis 3 also tells us the reason for the bad things, i.e. the first humans rebelled against their Creator and God judged the world with death and degeneration. The New Testament also tells us the Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, came to earth and paid the penalty for our rebellion, so that all who put their faith in Him can look forward to spending eternity in a beautifully designed new world untainted by evil. See John’s Gospel 1-3 (Ref. philosophy, education)